


Where's Josten

by wolfstsrshipper



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Kidnapping, M/M, Riot - Freeform, Violence, abuse mention, apathetic boy being less than apathetic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25235698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfstsrshipper/pseuds/wolfstsrshipper
Summary: After the riot started and calmed down, Andrew realized they were missing one very moronic striker
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 3
Kudos: 110





	Where's Josten

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first aftg fic, so I really hope I did well with his characterization ahhah

Andrew acted as soon as the riot started, as soon as the crowd ran onto the court floor.

His first reaction was to get to Neil and get him _out_ of there. But Neil had made him drop his promise, a promise he still had with Kevin. So he turned, grabbed Kevin by the edge of his shirt and fought his way to the edge of the gym. “Go!” He shouted, pointing to the corner, closest to the back door and away from the crowd of people where fists were being thrown and shouts were bouncing off the walls. He ran back into the tangle of people, searching frantically for Aaron and Nicky, because of course Nicky couldn’t fight to save his goddamn life.

Which was required right now.

He wove throughout the crowd, trying to focus on finding his twin and cousin, only he passed a child, no more than 5, who had tripped and curled into a protective ball.

He crashed to a halt and sprinted to him, without hesitation. Aaron and Nicky could last longer than this kid could.

He picked the child up and darted to the edge of the room, twisting and turning through several fights. He saw the elbow coming too fast, and all he could do was turn to make sure it didn’t hit the kid. Instead, it hit the corner of his temple, where it bordered his eye. His vision went black temporarily, but he didn’t stop until he got to the edge and put the kid down.

“Stay!” He said with as much force as he could. That seemed to be enough, as the kid clung to the wall. He ran back into the crowd, forgetting about him and continued his search for Nicky and Aaron. He found them quickly, not noticing that his neck got a punch from a flying hand.

He reached Nicky just in time, as there was someone who had taken one of the Exy racquets and taking a swing at the back of his head. He stopped it with his hand, yanking it away from the unknown face and swinging wide for their gut. He dropped the racquet when he felt a distinct crack, grabbed Aaron and Nicky - Aaron by the neck of his shirt and Nicky by his elbow - then hauled them off to where he had left Kevin, pleased to find the idiot hadn’t moved, and satisfied to see Renee had gathered the rest of the team. They looked worn for worse.

Not that he particularly cared. At least they were all alive.

He scanned them again, looking for a particular annoying striker. Then Coach Wymack walked up.

_Alone_.

He whipped around, about to spring back into the crowd, but someone grabbed his wrist, which was a mistake.

He couldn’t be touched in this state. Neil would have known, Neil who _wasn’t here_. He went rigid and threw his hand back, starting to throw punches at whoever dared touch him.

After a few moments, he realized it was Renee. She must have seen the recognition set in his eyes because she took a big step back, still within reach of him. “You can’t go, you have to wait till this calms down.” She gestured to the crowd, where he saw cops breaking up the fight.

He watched desperately, waiting for the first opportunity he had, then sprinted around the court, looking at every single person a First Responder and EMT dragged away. He searched through the crowd, looking for any sign of him. He ran out of the gym and circled around the school glancing in every bathroom, running outside in a full circle around the building before coming back inside, looking through the crowd in the gym one more time.

Then, he spotted a bright orange racquet. Beyond that, a duffle bag.

He ran as fast as he could towards it, not even registering he was running out of breath. He clutched the racquet in his hand and stood there, turning a full 360 as he looked for any sign of Neil. But there was none. He tried to calm the panic in his head. _“Thank you. You were amazing,”_ he had said. It was, of course, annoying. He was inching his way to ninety-seven percent.

_“Thank you, you were amazing.”_ The words repeated a few times in his head as he called the expression Neil made to the center of his mind's eye, happy in this moment for his eidetic memory. Neil looked at him with an intense look. Studying every feature.

His blood ran cold.

He studied his face as if it was the last time he would have seen Andrew.

He glanced at the bag and saw it was torn open, Neils phone just feet away from it. He walked over and picked it up, then picked up the bag and jogged back to his team. The only eyes he could meet were Renee’s. Neil wasn’t here to talk for him, and he couldn’t face Kevin. He didn’t have the mental energy to find out why he was making that weird face. “Neil’s gone. He’s disappeared.” His voice was steady. He wasn’t sure whether his apathetic mask was up, but he was sure there was something akin to violent fury in his eyes based on Nicky’s flinch when he glanced at him. Everyone seemed to take a step back.

“Do you think he finally r-”

“No,” Andrew said venomously. “He wouldn’t have left without this.” He gestured to the duffle bag. “This was all he had. He would have taken it.”

“Maybe he got taken to the ER…” Renee suggested gently.

“He wasn’t. Someone took him.” No one said anything.

“Let’s all wait outside by the bus. And we can make some calls and make sure he hasn’t been admitted." Renee offered, speaking up once more.

They hurried out to the car, everyone had their phones out, claiming what hospitals they were going to call. It was morbid, but Aaron and Kevin said they called the two closest morgues.

No one had Neil.

He searched through Neil’s bag, pocketing his keys. He kept digging, came up with nothing, and checked the sides.

No note, no sign. Nothing but a torn bag. He took out the phone he forgot was in his pocket and searched through it. He searched through the messages, and came up with nothing. So he looked through the call history. The first one on the list was a number Neil didn’t have in his phone.

Kevin came around and began to watch what he was doing, but the sharp intake of breath and newfound rigidness told him he knew who had called.

Before he could think, he whipped around and wrapped his hands around Kevin’s throat, slamming him to the ground. “What do you know?!” His voice was low, but murderous. “What do you know!” He felt hands trying to pry him off Kevin, but he wouldn’t budge. “Where is Josten? Where’s Neil?!” He shook his head vigorously, hitting it against the concrete again. Finally, someone pried him off Kevin. And by someone, he realized it was Coach, Renee, Matt, and Dan. They struggled against him, as he thrashed, trying to get his hands back around Kevin’s throat, who was currently taking gasping breaths in and coughing, sitting up but head turned downward, gripping his throat gently.

“He told me not to tell you…” He wheezed out.

“I don’t give a fuck, where the hell is he, Day?!” Andrew was still fighting as hard as he could, his voice still no louder than talking volume. _This is what happens when you break promises. People get hurt. They get taken, and they might not ever get seen again,_ Andrew's mind screamed at him. He agreed to stop protecting Neil, but he shouldn’t have. This was all his fault.

“The area code...he’s...he’s in Baltimore.” The way he said it sounded like he stated to the team that Neil was dead. He said it like it terrorized him in his nightmares every night. Kevin began to spill all the secrets Neil tried to keep. He told him about his father, who was called the Butcher. What he did to people, what he did to his wife, who he worked for. He told them how he was in prison. He kept going and going. Saying all the things that were never said between Andrew and Neil, all the things that didn’t add up, the things that were out of reach.

“Baltimore is where his father lives.” Kevin finished. Andrew had stopped fighting a long time ago. But he was staring at Kevin. Trying his best to keep his emotion in check and off his face.

“How likely is it we get him back?” Matt asked. Completely horrified.

Andrew didn't want to hear the answer. He didn't want to hear that he wasn't coming back.

Kevin looked tired and resigned, but fear still shone brightly in his eyes.

“Alive…." Kevin whispered.

_Alive_. Andrew thought. _Alive_. Neil had been through so much. He had seen his scars, he had seen what Riko did to him. He'd seen what his father was capable of. And he was _still_ _alive_ through all of it.

He'd seen the deep scars of long lines that littered his torso and his side that was completely splayed with clusters of scars. The long burn scar across his shoulder. The bullet mark.

Neil had come back, still moving still walking.

If it was anyone else...they would have died. No one can take that pain, no one can last. They would die of exauhstion.

Neil had been brought through hell and back so many times. _And he'd stay'd alive_.

But there he was in hell…. this time to stay.

Neil didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve any of it.

Andrew felt anger surge through him.

_Why did he go?_

It had only been a few seconds, but Kevin finished his sentence. "Or in one piece." Somewhere in the distance people made sounds.

He knew he was saying Neil was probably never going to come back to them in one piece, even if he was alive.

Fuck, there was a possibility he could be alive... but simultaneously dead. Dead in a way Andrew was. Only worse.

he couldn't see a _more_ broken Neil. Physically or mentally.

_Why_ couldnt they be the same thing, alive and in one peice. _Why_ couldn't they get him back with everything.

_Why_ had he given up protection and the first thing that happens is he gets _cut up_ into _millions_ of peices.

He could only see red as fought tooth and nail to attack Kevin again.

He needed something to direct this at.

This... _grief_ …

He was so angry for feeling it. So _angry_ for Neil never telling him and so angry _at_ Neil that he was feeling it _over_ Neil.


End file.
